Child Item

Request: All files available offline by default

Moving the Mac to the new File Provider is great - very happy this is finally happening and support on the new M1 is much better. Kudos!

Feature request: Really miss the feature to have Dropbox default to making all files downloaded and available for offline open/save. I will always, 100% of the time, want Dropbox to keep all my selected-to-sync files to also be downloaded and available for offline use.

I know you can right-click to request offline availability, but this creates a bit of an unclear situation as you can't see by looking at a file in Finder whether it is supposed to be offline available or not. I want this to just be the way Dropbox works.

Since there is the option to do this on a per file / folder basis using right-click, seems likely possible for Dropbox to make this effectively on-by-default for every file, with the user doing the gesture.

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Accepted answers

Jay

Hi everyone, and thanks for your patience.

We're re-launching the option to choose the default status of synced files in the Dropbox desktop application (in the Preferences > Sync tab) for users of the newer File Provider version.

It should be available to you shortly. If you haven't received it yet, make sure to update your desktop app, and let us know if you have any questions!

All comments

Mark

That is the default option @Tim T.13 - if its not doing that then you've set it up differently.

You should be able to alter that via the Dropbox preferences menu.

Tim T.13

There is no such option at all in the recent beta builds on macOS. There used to be an option for "Online-only" or "Local" by default, but after the move to the macOS File Provider and native M1 support, that option is no longer in the UX.

This is a request to get that feature back.

allera1

I have the same problem. I also have a new MacPro with an M1 and opted for offline files choosing the Save hard drive space automatically "off". However, the files remained online-only. Would this be a glitch?

Tim T.13

... also notable that I have 100+ GB of files not yet downloaded, and the Dropbox icon in the Menu Bar will often show no activity, as though it thinks it is done. Yet the cloud download icons are next to huge numbers of folders, still.

I will re-click the "Make available offline" option in Finder, which tends to kick Dropbox into doing some syncing. But then it will stop as though it thinks it is done again, still with a ton of files not yet downloaded.

That's a bit of a separate bug. If I could just right click "make available offline" and know that Dropbox would keep downloading until everything was local, then great. But since that also doesn't work, I'd much prefer the old global option to make everything local would return.

Seeing this behavior in all the recent builds since the new File Provider version for M1 support came out. Right now on build 146.2.496, but its been going on for weeks like this.

JW B

Facing the same problem on MacOS 12.3 (both on an M1 machine and an Intel machine). The option to download all new files by default isn't available anymore in the preferences menu and new files & folders are not downloaded automatically. This has been so for over 6 weeks now and the latest build I'm on v146.3.4795 isn't any different.

This is a huge regression issue. Surprised it's still lingering.

Dave

Thanks for your feedback.

Currently, if you want to make 100% of your files available offline, you can right click in your Dropbox root and select “make available offline”

We are currently working on improving the visual indication of files and folders that are available offline.

You can find out more about what you can expect to see in the beta experience here.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-for-macOS-12/Dropbox-for-macOS-12-What-you-need-to-know/m-p/583518

Thank you!

JW B

Thanks @Dave, appreciate the reply.

But to make it clear this issue isn't on the visual indication that has changed in the beta. In the current beta implementation, if a user wants to make sure that all files are stored locally and available offline, we would need to manually select “make available offline” every single time a new file is added. Regardless on where it's added in the folder hierarchy.

This behaviour defeats to purpose of having a dropbox client app. Users would get the same experience (files are online-only by default) if you'd only give us access to our files via a browser with the ability to download.

Tim T.13

Thanks again for the response, it is really appreciated! However, agreed that the feature request - which is how I had always used Dropbox - is to always sync all files and keep full, local copies of all of them on my disk.

This was clearly a key feature of the product for a very long time, and had a dedicated option in the preferences. Would just like to see it come back. If it is indeed planning to come back, I can probably wait a little while. If this is not how Dropbox intends to work in the future, then I'm not sure it will be meeting my needs.

Also note that I have been clicking "Make available offline" frequently, but for weeks of doing so, still don't have the files all local, and the Dropbox app appears to happily say that I am up to date and no need to sync. So even that behavior doesn't appear to be working as expected.

Tim T.13

... and one thing to ask for clarification: how would I click on the Dropbox root? It is no longer a folder in Finder, but only a "location" in the sidebar. Right-clicking that location doesn't offer the Dropbox context menus. So I can right-click on folders within Dropbox, but not the "root" folder and described in this suggestion. Am I missing how to do this? Thank you!

Tim T.13

Dave - (so sorry for the piling on...) - Any idea why I get "Access Denied" trying to go to the link to the forum post you referenced? Tried several times, and am logged in (obviously.) Would love to read it.

allera1

Same as Tim and the other user, the issue is not about "seeing" offline files, but if you want to have files available offline you have to download it one by one. This is absolutely not useful.

I also get the "access denied" message. No way of checking Dropbox issues with MacOS.

aflat_

A quick message of support for this feature request.

The cool thing with Dropbox has been that I could leave it running on my computers, and anything added to Dropbox on the desktop would automatically appear on the laptop (M1 MacBook Pro). A colleague could also drop in some files, and when I connect my laptop in the morning to check mail, all the files would come to it. Then I could pick it up and work on-the-go, be it in a cafe or a plane, or anywhere without internet.

But this is now broken.

Now it is necessary to go into Dropbox in Finder, right click each folder where files may have been added, and then wait. And hope I’ve waited long enough for everything to download.

And in some cases, it is needed to wait for the whole folder to resync, as what was previously available offline is now back to cloud only.

Which really defeats the purpose of using Dropbox on a laptop for those of us who need to access files without internet.

Tim T.13

Ok, a bit more info. I think I'm seeing this new File Provider experience (that no longer shows the green Finder icons, and doesn't offer the "Offline by default option) due to having opted into the betas a while ago. I thought it was because I was on M1 Macs.

I have since setup other M1 Macs, including a new Mac Studio, and installed the stable 146.x build for ARM. On this and other newly setup Macs, after I opted out of the beta, I get a version of Dropbox that 1) has all the old UX, Finder green badges, and Offline all files options, and 2) still appears to be Apple M1 native. Yay! Also, does not appear to be using the new File Provider stuff (e.g. the location in CloudStorage instead of ~/Dropbox.)

Didn't know this combination was possible! My existing Macs that had run the beta and I moved back to stable still have the File Provider experience, even though they have the same version of Dropbox.

Is there a way to opt into the old experience for all Macs, so I can get the Offline by default feature?

Maybe all this is explained in that forum thread that we all get Access Denied when clicking? 🙂

gwoods22

Also having this issue, my files don't seem to be staying offline even if I go through the manual right-click "Make available offline".

Tim, in the Finder menu if you click Go To Folder or CMD+Shift+G and enter `~/Library/CloudStorage` that should bring you to the correct folder to make all of your Dropbox available offline. I have found that even this isn't a permanent fix and sometimes after adding new files or a computer restart I need to make files available offline yet again.

Dave

Hi @Tim T.13

Thanks for reaching out.

'To do this' firstly, click on Dropbox in Locations, then right click anywhere in the white space and click make offline available. This should solve this issue for you. Please let me know if need any more assistance.

JW B

Hi @Dave, could you perhaps share if this is tracked internally as a regression issue?

I'm conscious that the title of this thread hints at it being a Feature Request but it definitely isn't. This current behaviour was introduced in recent MacOS clients and is a big step backwards compared to the online/offline 'default' option Dropbox offered for years. Us clicking make available offline every time even a single file is added is not tenable in the long run.

Xiang J.

Hi @Tim T.13 . The ability to install a version of Dropbox that doesn't use FileProvider is something I desperately need. The FileProvider API has been an absolute nightmare, and it frequently freezes my whole Finder while trying to open a file. Also as you mentioned, even if I click "make available offline", files in the folder are frequently stored online again and this causes all sorts of problems, and even frequently freezes my whole Finder. How did you manage to install an old version of Dropbox? I didn't opt into the experimental features as I checked my user preferences on Dropbox, but this didn't seem to help. I tried to uninstall Dropbox even with an app cleaner, but even if I use an installer for v145 it still uses FileProvider!

Tim T.13

I was never able to install the non-File Provider version on a machine that already had the new version. Wiping and re-installing didn't work. The Macs that are on latest builds, but using the old model (with green check boxes, etc), are machines that had never switched in the first place. For whatever reason they keep updating to newer builds, but they stick with the old experience, even on M1 Macs, and report they are Apple silicon processes.

I really, really need the "Keep all files offline" feature back. The right-click to "Make available offline" simply does not do the same thing for all new files, and frankly doesn't work most of the time. For days I will see files are not available offline down the tree, and Dropbox reports it is done syncing, so it isn't even trying. I just keep re-clicking to make offline, one file at a time, to try to force it.

This setting should be an option (again) as that is the only way I want Dropbox to work. I *never* want to leave the house with a file I can't access due to limited network. I can live with the new File Provider (it is the future!) but need this feature back.

JonnyC

Thanks Dave - adding my 'voice' to this request for the feature to be reinstated. It seems broken - there is a preference setting 'New files default: Available offline' which doesn't appear to work, we are having to manually sync files.

Nicolas de Jong

The "Make available offline" option is not working recursively for me. So choosing it for a folder will make all files in that folder available-offline but not its sub-folders. So I have to select that option for each folder I have in Dropbox. I won't spend hours doing that, so I hope that bug is quickly fixed.

Tim T.13

... and to be clear, as I've seen this in other threads, the URL pointed to in this thread gives an "Access Denied" message.

I don't understand why this keeps happening in these Dropbox Forums. Clearly these are threads meant to answer FAQs, which is great, so why are they access permissions blocking even logged-in forums users from reading?

This is the blocked link, which likely has some great info in it I'd love to read!

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-for-macOS-12/Dropbox-for-macOS-12-What-you-need-to-know/m-p/...

firebergmusic

As far as I can tell the setting is still broken.

Unless...

I wonder, does "new files," in this case, only refer to newly added to dropbox, not newly selected for sync?

Just to clarify because its a little confusing, there are three statuses of a file,

1) Synced-Online only - Visible in the finder but only as a placeholder, not downloaded

2) Synced-Available offline - Visible in the finder and downloaded

3) Not Synced - Only exists in the cloud (on dropbox.com), not visible in the finder

So, I'll keep certain files in the cloud but not synced because I'm not using them in a current project, but then suddenly I need them, so I go into selective sync to download it to the device. Then, since the setting is broken I have to go back to finder, find that file, right click it and click it again to it make it offline. I know that's not the end of the world, but it does bog me down often, especially because the selective sync window is one that doesn't hide like others . It would seem this setting could only exist to solve this very problem. Unless, as I said, "new" means newly created, not newly appearing on this device.

Anyone at dropbox wanna weigh in?

Thanks!

P.S.

Btw, I don't really understand Synced-Online Only, anyway. Why do people want to see files on their finder that they can't open?

I obviously get the need to designate some files in an archive state i.e. cloud-only, and others actively in use. But maybe there's a certain workflow I'm not aware of?

firebergmusic

I actually just kind of realized the workaround and answered one of my questions.

If I sync everything except entirely irrelevant files and keep them mostly online only, then I don't need to go into the selective sync window much at all. Syncing can be handled mostly within the finder.

I guess it is kind of obvious and simple that way, I just had been doing it the other way because for a while when you added another device, it would start downloading everything on your dropbox unless you quickly unchecked all...

Rich

@firebergmusic wrote:
I wonder, does "new files," in this case, only refer to newly added to dropbox, not newly selected for sync?

Correct.

I go into selective sync to download it to the device. Then, since the setting is broken I have to go back to finder, find that file, right click it and click it again to it make it offline.

This is the intended behavior. When you check a folder within the Select Sync settings, it will be added back to your local Dropbox folder as Online-only. You then need to mark the folder as available offline.

Btw, I don't really understand Synced-Online Only, anyway. Why do people want to see files on their finder that they can't open?

Because they can open them.

The way the feature (previously known as Smart Sync) is supposed to work is that if you have a file marked as Online-only and try to open it, Dropbox will first download the file and mark is as Available (previously known as Local) and then the file would open as it should. This still works as expected, at least on a PC, but I think it's been an issue on a Mac. I'm not certain as I don't use Mac. One change from Smart Sync is that there are now three states for a file; Available, Available Offline, and Online-only. Previously with Smart Sync it was just Local and Online-only.

Cp2022

Is there a super user who uses Mac and can weigh in here? This is a nightmare. New Mac, weird new DB interface, files unavailable. I live in the developing world and move in and out of internet connectivity. Even when I'm online, it's very slow compared to the west... and syncing can take days.

I'm now moving between my new mac and my 'older' mac to access files which is far from ideal.

I need all files available offline, as they always were in the past. I've been a paid DB user for many years and it became part of my workflow. That's now broken. Please fix this and tell us how to configure in plain-language instructions (not access Root, etc. etc.) Because if you don't, many of us will look for other cloud solutions as we have nothing to lose if DB doesn't work.

Cp2022

Update: https://bigtechquestion.com/2022/06/14/software/apps/force-dropbox-to-sync-all-files-mac/

This worked!

DolphinU1

Problem is, the current version of Dropbox doesn't look like the website you linked to. On my Dropbox, in sync preferences there is NO "New Files Default" option.

Nicolas de Jong

Exactly. It seems the above article is about the Intel implementation of Dropbox on Mac, not the M1 implementation. See the differences, left is the article, right shows my settings:

turini2

Another +1 here for this issue here - having everything offline is really important, I treat Dropbox just like any other folder in Finder. Hopefully this can be resolved soon.

Tim T.13

Exactly. The lack of the "New files available: offline by default" option in the latest builds (for some people) is exactly the problem that spawned this thread many months ago. I feel a bit like being gaslighted as there is regular chatter about right clicking to download (every time I need new files offline!) Or getting links to articles that show the old UI.

Many of us have this new UI that don't have this option. And it seems quite clear that the new UI is the experience for the future.

So the request from this thread stands: want that option back that lets all files, no matter where they are added and when, to sync down to this current Mac and be offline, all the time, by default. This is the definition of the value of Dropbox to me, and until it returns, I cannot use the product.